Figure AI could have far more ambitious goals than simply creating robots.
Brett Adcock, the founder and CEO of the robotics startup, told Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff during the annual Dreamforce conference on Wednesday afternoon that he sees a future of robotics that sounds like something from science fiction.
“We’re building a new species here,” Adcock responded when Benoiff asked if he saw a future like to that portrayed in the 2016 science fiction book “We Are Legion (We Are Bob),” penned by Canadian author Dennis E. Taylor.
According to Adcock, a time when robots are able to reproduce and exchange information may not be far off.
Among his excitement are self-replicating von Neumann probes in space, where robots can essentially build themselves, go out and mine methane, do the right things on different planets, build more of themselves, and basically colonize the galaxy in this way, Adcock said, referring to a hypothetical robot type put forth by renowned mathematician John von Neumann, who came up with the idea of self-reproducing machines.
He stated that he believes it will occur in our lifetime.
Figure AI has received a $5 million investment from OpenAI, whose CEO, Sam Altman, essentially agrees with Adcock’s robotics vision. The time will soon come, Altman said in a May interview, when “like seven robots that walk past you doing things or whatever.” It will have a sci-fi vibe.
“Oh man, this is going to do a lot of things that people used to do,” Altman added, expressing his belief that it’s not that far from a visceral experience.
Figure AI is up against fierce competition in the robotics space, primarily from Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, who is in a battle with Altman. In 2024, Musk sued OpenAI, claiming that the company had “deceived” him into cofounding the lab. The same year, OpenAI sued Musk for harassment. Musk, the owner of xAI, filed a second lawsuit against Altman’s business in September, claiming that it had used staff poaching to obtain confidential data, a claim that Altman has refuted.
Additionally, Tesla is working on Optimus, a humanoid robot. Musk had stated that the robot will be prepared for release as a consumer product in late 2025 or 2026. The initial prototype was unveiled during Tesla’s AI Day in 2022.
Figure AI unveiled Figure 03, a third-generation humanoid robot designed to do home tasks, in October; however, the robot is not yet on the market.
Benioff wondered in the interview if all robots will take human form or if they may look like vehicles, as the “Transformers” movie series indicated.
It’s still mostly debatable if robots actually need to look like humans. The Austin-based firm Diligent Robotics creates the Moxi wheeled robot for the medical field. It can carry out vital tasks for hospital employees, such carrying medical supplies or lab results, while lacking legs.
As the “minimum viable humanoid,” Moxi is less sophisticated in structure but just as useful as a humanoid robot, according to Vivian Chu, creator of Diligent Robotics.
Chu previously told in an interview that he believes that the wheel form factor — which consists of two arms, a head, and a wheel — will most likely cover the majority of what you want over time.
